Arsenal in talks with Fenerbahce over transfer of Pablo Mari as Turkish giants make contact over defender

ARSENAL are in talks with Fenerbahce over the sale of defender Pablo Mari, according to reports.

The Turkish giants are hoping to swoop for the 28-year-old before the end of the window.

Mari sits behind Ben White and Gabriel in the Arsenal pecking order so may have a better chance of getting first team football with a move.

Journalist  has suggested the transfer could be on.

He tweeted: "Fenerbahce made first contact with Arsenal for Pablo Mari.

"The centre-back could leave permanently during this transfer market session."

Mari only made two appearances for Arsenal last season.

One of the two included him being memorably monstered by Romelu Lukaku as Chelsea won at the Emirates last August.

The Spaniard then spent the rest of the season on loan at Udinese where he made 15 appearances and scored twice.

Alexandre Lacazette is the only major departure from the North London club this season.

FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS - BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS

And with Arsenal bringing in some major signings this summer, the bloated nature of the squad has caught the attention of the manager.

Speaking after the pre-season win over Orlando City, Mikel Arteta said: "We have a large squad.

"We have to make some decisions on the players that we're not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them.

"That's a process that is going to start very soon as well. We have to, and now we have to make things happen."